BILL 3 MUST GO!

— Socred bill strikes
blow at democracy |

The new, vicious, anti-
education Bill 3 proposed by
Education Minister Donald
Brothers is designed to serve
two purposes. The first, to divest
teachers of the province of any
bargaining or civil rights and to
make school boards the scape
goats of inevitable educational
deficiencies. The second, to
bolster the Social Credit govern-
ment’s election pitch to voters.

By its propaganda about
“greedy employees’ the govern-
ment hopes to distract attention
from the real issues and to gain
support for its anti-democratic
campaign against the trade
unions and professional groups
under the pretence of protecting
the public. It is easier to rob a
man if you first create a diver-
sion by crying thief, and it is
easier still if you hit him on the
head.

First then what is Bill 3 which
will likely be debated in the
House within two weeks; how
are teachers and school boards
responding to it, and most
important, how can this issue
draw together all progressive
forces to defeat the obnoxious

Bill?
WHAT IS BILL 3?

On January 28, Brothers
presented Bill 3, (an Act to
amend the Public Schools Act),
in the legislature. It contains 25
proposed changes, one of which
is Section 140A, of major concern
to teachers. It states:

“An agreement made-or
modified under this division
either by negotiation or by arbi-
tration that provides for an
increase in salary and bonus in
excess of a percentum-amount
prescribed by the regulations or
arbitration, unless the board has
obtained the assent.of the owner-
electors, in the manner
prescribed by the regulations,
for the payment of the excess.”’

What this provides for, in
effect, isthe setting of salaries
by the provincial cabinet. Until
now, bargaining rights of
teachers have been the most
restrictive of any group — no
right to strike and compulsory
binding arbitration.

Bill 3 makes the continued
provision for ‘‘negotiations”’
and ‘‘arbitration’’ proceedings
ridiculous. Arbitration boards
are notoriously conservative in
their awards. Now they are to be
asked to make an award,
knowing that any amount they
suggest which is in excess of that
set each year by the govern-
ment must be voted on by the
residents of a district.

The new legislation destroys
the last vestiges of collective
bargaining; makes a total farce
of the arbitration process, sets
salaries by dictate, takes away a
school board’s control over two-
thirds of its budget, thereby
further reducing their
authority, and threatens the very
existence of the B.C. Teachers’
Federation.

The legislation also contains

cl.anges in tenure provisions
which virtually allows a district
superintendent (a provincial

employee) complete dictatorial .

rights in firing a teacher who
does not comply with any order
he wishes to make.

TEACHERS FIGHT

The B.C. Teachers’ Fed-
eration is united in its condemna-
tion of such repressive
measures. The table officers and
senior staff lobbied in Victoria
January 31 and met with
members of the cabinet on
February 1, but the government
was adamant: On February 3 and
4, the Federation’s Representa-
tive Assembly of the BCTF, the
governing bo.'y between annual
conventiors, drew up tke
following proposals which are
now Federatiol, policy:

e That the BCTF seek with-
drawal of the offensive legis-
lation.

e That the BCTF insists on the
right of free collective
bargaining.

e That the BCTF continue to
impress on all members of the
Legislative Assembly that it
regards Sections 14, 15, and 16 or
Bill 3 as an unacceptable
infringement on the due process
of free collective bargaining.

e That the BCTF begin an
immediate campaign to inform
all BCTF members and the
public of the BCTF’s opposition
to these sections and committing
resources of the staff, the execu-
tive committee, the geographi-
cal representatives and local
associations.

e That the BCTF immediately
contact and meet with all inter-
ested groups and organizations
who are also concerned about the
implications of Bill 3.

e That preparations begin
immediately for a strike vote of
the membership.

@ That the date for the vote be ©

set by the executive com-
mittee.

e That a levy of one day’s
salary be imposed on_ all
members of the BCTF, such
funds to be used for publicity and
political action related to its

opposition to Bill 3.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1972—PAGE 12

MRS. SALLYE DAVIS, mother of
Angela, is in Vancouver this
week to rally support for her

daughter's defence. She
addressed a huge meeting at UBC
and spoke Wednesday night at
John Oliver High School. —

Of great significance is the
new stance of the teachers in
seeing the importance of united
political action. Each local can
now go ahead and seek to
establish liaison with other
organizations and present a
united campaign to expose and
defeat the Socred government’s
anti-democratic laws.

Hand in hand with its attack on

teachers, is an equally unpre-
cedented attack on the financing
of education for the children of
this province. Brother’s
notorious 110 percent formula
which has created such havoc
has now been reduced to 108
percent and school boards view
the situation as a threat to educa-
tional standards.

The B.C. School Trustees
Association met with the
minister but again, as with the
teachers, he turned a deaf ear to
any suggested changes in legis-
lation.

Scare figures in the daily press
give a distorted picture of the
situation. One
announced that education would

take up 30 percent of the extra

spending by the government.
Naturally, it makes up 30
percent of the total budget. That
is what the provincial govern-
ment is supposed to be supplying
under the BNA Act.

Let’s look at some figures
from the budget speech in 1971:
Cost of elementary and second-
ary education in 1960 was $59
million. In 1972, $254 million.

Cost of post-secondary
education in 1960, $8 million; in
1972, $149 million.

In other words, our schools
cost four times as much in 1972,
but post-secondary education
cost eighteen and a half times as
much or nearly half the total
expenditure on education. Of
course, the provincial govern-
ment receives at least half the
cost of post-secondary education
from the federal government,
and with its method of financing
junior colleges, the school
boards are also saddled with a
goodly part of the cost.

Looking at the government’s
income, why is it that of its total
revenue, 14.6 percent came from
natural resources in 1960, but in
1972 this is reduced to 10.7
percent, and we are selling more
resources than ever?

Most of the government’s
revenue comes from income
taxes, and this year it will take
32 percent of the total.

Our natural resources should
be paying for the development
of our human resources. We give
away our Coal for 10 cents a ton,
yet to buy a pencil for a child in
school we have to pay. the same
amount.

The fight to defeat Bill 3 can be
a fight to restore democracy and
block the governments anti-
education and anti-labor shift to
the right. It can be a means of
unitng all those progressive
forces in B.C. who want to see
an end to the reactionary Socred
administration when the next

provincial election takes place. _

headline

VICTIMS OF BILL 3. Not only will school teachers suffer from Bill 3, but
the entire educational system and the children will be the main victims
of this anti-education measure of the Socred government. :

TOM McEWEN

‘Greetings to Tom
on 8ist birthday

Greetings were pouring in this
week to veteran Communist
editor and leader Tom McEwen

on the occasion of his §8lst,

birthday which is February 11.

In a message from William
Kashtan, on behalf of the Central
Executive Committee of the
Communist Party, ‘‘heartiest
congratulations” are extended
to Tom. The message says:
“Surely, you have discovered the
secret of ever-lasting youth for
with every additional year your
pen champions stronger than
ever the cause of, Marxism-
Leninism and working class unity
for independence, peace,
democracy and socialism.”’

A message of congratulations
has also been sent to Tom from
the Provincial Executive of the
Party. The message signed by
provincial leader Nigel Morgan
and provincial chairman
Maurice Rush, says: ‘‘Heartiest
congratulations dear Tom on
your 81st birthday from your
comrades on the provincial
committee and the ‘entire
membership of the party. We
wish you many more. years of
good health, happiness and
service to the cause of
socialism,”

The editor and staff of the
Pacific Tribune join with our
readers in extending warmest
congratulations to Tom, whose
weekly column is eagerly looked
forward to by readers all across
B.C.

monopolies.

Bennett

Cont'd from pg. 1

should be charged directly to the
industries responsible), but —
real penny-pinching when it
comes to relief for the under-
privileged, the unemployed, the
sick and the aged!

As usual, the Bennett budget
will again dip deeper into the
pockets of the average citizen of
the province and relieve th
resource-eating industries of
their responsibilities to the
people whose birthright
resources are. Income, suc
cession and gift taxes are to
upped $60 million — from $
last year to $396 million in 1972-3.
Other taxes, (consume
charges, fees, etc.), are also Up
by $46.5 million — from $335 t0
$381.5 million. On the other hand
natural resource revenues are t0
be dropped from 12 percent of
the government’s income to

Premier Bennett’s ability to
create illusions about how much ~
his benevolent government 1S
giving, and to cover up and mink ~
mize how much his big business —
backers, most of them foreign ~
holdings, are taking out of the
economy, is truly the marvel of
this decade!

JOBLESS

Cont’d from pg. 1
sitting on their hands and not yet
responding to the demand from
local unions and trade union
memberships to launch an all

—

out campaign across the —
country. eS
The Communist Party

nationally is pressing its cam-
paign for new policies to put
Canada back to work. They are
calling for a restructuring of |
Canada’s trade policies to end 7
the heavy reliance on the U.S. —
and to expand trade with ©
socialist and newly-liberated —
countries. They are calling for
massive housing and public —
works programs and for develop- —
ment of manufacturing indus-
tries based on. resources.
These and other measures. |
advocated by the Communist
Party are long overdue. The
fight for new economic policies
which would curb the monopo- —
lies and put the people’s interest _
first are a must if Canada and —
B.C. is to meet the growing: —
crisis being thrust upon us by our
present subservience to the U.S.
and the giant U.S. and Canadian